RAIL USA [Quenched]

[cairnswk]

This one is for all the train/railroad buffs out there and I'm sure there are plenty of them. I've had this idea for a while now sitting in the background slowly working on it to create the concept.

This is one not so crowded! LOL.

RAIL USA

Current Map....below



Why?

Cos I like trains and train games, and I think there are a lot of players out there who might also enjoy trains.

Concept

13 continents based on some "artistic licensed" AMTRACK lines, with possible future extensions touted from Oklahoma City to Denver on the Heartland Flyer route.

72 territories now on this map.

Another USA map everyone will say. So what. Some maps of the USA make very good gameplay. This will probably be one of them and could lead to a series across the globe, including the UK, Europe and Australia.
Let's just have some good old fashion train fun!
Basically, every line has stations that are attackable and border each other at terminals and junctions.

Control your line/route and you get the bonus.
Control Chicago Station and you get + 4 bonus points.

Design and colour
Black is not necessarily a good colour to create a fun map on.
But in this case, its meant to represent the smoke from the steam engine below in the pic, and it also provides a good colour on which to background lots of bright happy colours.
These have not been checked on the colour blind list, but i will do so and make alterations where necessary.

The station buildings are designed on a simple art-deco style, with flags and the army shadows act as the line lights.

Fonts
Art-Deco: Verdana and Broadway BT.

Station Codes

The map uses three letter station codes that are applicable in all travel arrangements and are even known in the airline industry.

The XML will show the stations as follows:

LAX - Los Angeles
EMY - Emeryville
SAC - Sacremento
EUG - Eugene
PDX - Portland
SEA - Seattle
etc etc.


Enjoy!

Original Concept Map....below

[DiM]

i thought you abandoned this one. nice to see it back to life.

and i see you added a nice effect to the bottom locomotive

PS: resize the image in your sig. it's huge


edit// i see you resized it. now add [/url] at the end


edit// perfect

[alex_white101]

that looks really cool if a tad confusing, also the line that runs along the top, kind of greenish does it get you a 5 bonus? i think this would be excellent the only thing im not sure about is the bonuses......

[WidowMakers]

Man you beat me to it. I was also thinking of a US highway/railway map. Basically just what I was thinking. Well you snooze you lose. Oh well. Great start.

[cairnswk]

i thought you abandoned this one. nice to see it back to life.

and i see you added a nice effect to the bottom locomotive

PS: resize the image in your sig. it's huge


edit// i see you resized it. now add [/url] at the end


edit// perfect

Thanks DiM....no i hadn't abandoned it...just working slowly on it in between other projects that creative flow came more easily for.
This one was a little difficult to get everything in place and create the overall concept to make it look good.

[cairnswk]

that looks really cool if a tad confusing, also the line that runs along the top, kind of greenish does it get you a 5 bonus? i think this would be excellent the only thing im not sure about is the bonuses......

Alex_white101...thanks for your post....the line at the top is the empire Builder bonus 4....i probably will change the colour on those two that conflict....bonuses can be always re-worked during this process, and may not end up the same as at the start.

[cairnswk]

Man you beat me to it. I was also thinking of a US highway/railway map. Basically just what I was thinking. Well you snooze you lose. Oh well. Great start.

Thanks WidowMakers ...sorry about getting in first...I'd be happy to colaborate on this one if you can PM me with ideas or contribute whatever....always happy to team with someone.

[DiM]

i thought you abandoned this one. nice to see it back to life.

and i see you added a nice effect to the bottom locomotive

PS: resize the image in your sig. it's huge


edit// i see you resized it. now add [/url] at the end


edit// perfect

Thanks DiM....no i hadn't abandoned it...just working slowly on it in between other projects that creative flow came more easily for.
This one was a little difficult to get everything in place and create the overall concept to make it look good.

i haven't heard anything about it in a long time and that's why i thought you dropped it.

anyway. i'm not familiar with the us rail but it would be neat if there was another line from den to hav with 1 extra station between those 2.

another thing between den and slc there's a point where the tracks narrow oddly.

[cairnswk]

i haven't heard anything about it in a long time and that's why i thought you dropped it.
anyway. i'm not familiar with the us rail but it would be neat if there was another line from den to hav with 1 extra station between those 2.
another thing between den and slc there's a point where the tracks narrow oddly.

DiM...I fixed that line if you refresh your browser...i was looking for a line up that way from Denver up through the Havre or Spokane....I suspect there are some small private lines....these ones on the map are the Amtrack lines....so that is yet feasible.....i just have to find the connections.

If there is anyone out there who can assist in searching this, then it could become reality on the map.

[DiM]

also the same problem between tus and elp.
and also the orange line ooks kinda squished.

same squishiness from nyp to bos


PS: i would help you but i have no idea what to search for. maybe an american would be more helpful.

edit// in chicago, the yellow and grey atmy circles are barely visible. and i suspect the army numbers will be very hard to see in chicago maybe make the circles less tarnsparent.

one more thing. the watches in the stations. all point at 3 o'clock. maybe make them point like the real time zones. and some watches are blank.

[cairnswk]

also the same problem between tus and elp.
and also the orange line ooks kinda squished.

same squishiness from nyp to bos


PS: i would help you but i have no idea what to search for. maybe an american would be more helpful.

edit// in chicago, the yellow and grey atmy circles are barely visible. and i suspect the army numbers will be very hard to see in chicago maybe make the circles less tarnsparent.

one more thing. the watches in the stations. all point at 3 o'clock. maybe make them point like the real time zones. and some watches are blank.

DiM....don't worry about the lines, there are very good set of tracks coming to replace those one there now, they may just take a little while.

Yes i think someone from the States will have a better search facility to help in that line.

OK those transparencies need adjusting in Chicago. Done!

Good idea with the clock, i can place the train times on the clocks in future versions.

[Pious]

I like it, but it's confusing at Chicago and which bonuses go to which rails. Does the orange rail have a station all the way in Chicago? Can every station at Chicago attack every other station? If so, it might be too hard to hold any of the bonuses from railroads that have a station in Chicago. This gives a huge advantage to railroads that don't have a station in Chicago.

It also might be too easy to block off paths in some areas. In the top left, it is too easy to hold the bonus once taken (besides it bordering Chicago, which is too hard to hold a station at).

What determines a split city and a shared city needed for more than one bonus?

Will the acronyms be used or the city names? If the city names, some people might not be able to tell their names from the acronyms so it could be confusing.

It looks like a fun map though.

[cairnswk]

I like it, but it's confusing at Chicago and which bonuses go to which rails. Does the orange rail have a station all the way in Chicago? Can every station at Chicago attack every other station? If so, it might be too hard to hold any of the bonuses from railroads that have a station in Chicago. This gives a huge advantage to railroads that don't have a station in Chicago.

It also might be too easy to block off paths in some areas. In the top left, it is too easy to hold the bonus once taken (besides it bordering Chicago, which is too hard to hold a station at).

What determines a split city and a shared city needed for more than one bonus?

Will the acronyms be used or the city names? If the city names, some people might not be able to tell their names from the acronyms so it could be confusing.

It looks like a fun map though.

Hi Pious...thanks for your post

Obviously, at Chicago terminal, you have to hold the colour of the line your are conquering. The orange line is a mistake at Chicago which i am in the process of fixing.

All rail lines at Chicago can attack overy other line.
The advantage of having some lines not end at Chicago would be if you conquered them first they could be used to back up your push into Chicago.
And yes there are some shared stations where it would be easy to block off from other terts, but these have been taken into account in the bonus calculation. I am sure the bonuses would go into further discussion once all the other bits and pieces are dusted off.

In the xml the following format will apply:
DEN - Denver
NYP - NY Pennsylvania
etc. etc.

Glad to hear you like though!

[Night Strike]

I'm liking this idea. Good work thus far. I don't have much creative feedback at this time, but I probably will eventually.

[cairnswk]

I'm liking this idea. Good work thus far. I don't have much creative feedback at this time, but I probably will eventually.

Kewl....thanx for the post Night Strike

[Unit_2]

i have a good idea. take out some stations, and put in some trains inbetween the stations.



P.S i LOVE trains!

[cairnswk]

i have a good idea. take out some stations, and put in some trains inbetween the stations.
P.S i LOVE trains!

Thanks for your post Unit_2....there is a possiblility that stations may be deleted and images enhanced as the map grows....key your eyes peeled.

[Fircoal]

Looks cool, I like the idea.

[Unit_2]

if you don't know what i mean by "trains", i mean put a engine as a territory.

[cairnswk]

if you don't know what i mean by "trains", i mean put a engine as a territory.

So you mean have 3 0r 4 engines and carriages between major stations as terts?

[cairnswk]

V2 Update
There are now 66 terts...with no plans to increase this number, but perhaps decrease it later.
* fixed the line from Boston to Chicago to tie in with the terminal colours at Chicago.
* fixed the New York and Washington line stations.
* Fixed the font on each station to smooth anti-alias
* added space to each station name block
* worked out how to idetnify each line for multi-station terminals
* fixed some background graphic images issues
* identified better colours for some lines

[Pious]

Is it wise to have NEW and BOS having 11 points combined? They're probably going to be held by the same person since they have the majority of their territories together.

I think an obvious deciding factor between a shared-bonus-territory and having a hub station is having a line end there, but WAS and ALB don't fit the criterea. What did you use for it?

[cairnswk]

Is it wise to have NEW and BOS having 11 points combined? They're probably going to be held by the same person since they have the majority of their territories together.

I think an obvious deciding factor between a shared-bonus-territory and having a hub station is having a line end there, but WAS and ALB don't fit the criterea. What did you use for it?

Hi Pious...no it probably isn't wise to give them 11 points combined, and this will change no doubt, thanks for pointing this out. I will keep it in mind when we make the final bonus decisions.

I used the BOS line so that Bostonians didn't feel left out of the picture...and also since Boston line only has one station if you like i.e. it doesn't have another line there, then the next best was Albany.
I thought it woudl also make for interesting play up there in that area at the "2 Capitals"

[Unit_2]

yes, thats what i ment

[spinwizard]

Sorry but i don't like the chicargo bit, it just looks wrong...